Students will study not only the art and culture of Asian and African countries but also the history, literature, ethnology, philosophy and religion of the peoples of this extensive region as well as works by historian-orientalists and philologist-orientalists. Basic training in oriental studies is obligatory for all first-year students of the Oriental Studies Division while the extended study of art begins from the third year.
The head of the Oriental Studies Division, doctor of humanities and associate professor, Elena Vojtishek commented on the creation of the new major stating that 鈥淭he need to train new specialists in the art and culture of Asian and African countries appeared long time ago. All the biggest museums in the world as well as Russian ones have big collections of Eastern art and this requires properly trained specialists.
Last year the research interests of the professors and students of the Oriental Studies Division concerned culturological and artistic themes. The urgency of training oriental art historians is caused by the external 鈥渟ocial demand鈥� for specialists. We have often been asked to be experts in the assessment of numerous Eastern works of art, to decrypt hieroglyphs on scrolls, pictures or objects of ornamental art, give opinions/ make judgments on the time of creation or the purpose of an art object, etc.鈥�
Over the last few years professors from the Oriental Studies Division of NSU have been elaborating new programs and courses, writing workbooks and monographs concerning the problems of the art and culture of the traditional and contemporary East, archeology of the Ancient East. The new major was developed under the instruction of the Training Council of Oriental and African Studies of Association for classical university education (Institute of Asia and Africa, Moscow State University). As a result, we are ready to introduce the new specialization next academic year after its development within the innovative program of national research university NSU.
It is known that professional oriental language acquisition is the basis of Oriental studies. At NSU we teach such languages as Chinese, Korean and Japanese. Also there exists an additional opportunity of learning a number of languages: Farsi, Arabic, Ancient Egyptian. Generally speaking, proficiency in Oriental languages and studying in the Humanities Department allows students to study the art and culture of peoples from a wide region 鈥� China, Tibet, India, Nepal, Mongolia, Korea, Japan, countries of the Arab East, Turkey, Africa and Middle Asia.
It is going to help the graduates to find a good job in the area of their studies. The students, having successfully followed the educational program will be able to work as teachers at Universities and art schools, to be experts in the sphere of traditional customs, mythology, traditional and contemporary art, to work as museum workers and consultants, supervisors of artistic projects, art dealers, managers in the field of art and culture, experts of customs, consultants for trade companies, advertising businesses and travel industry.
Such a new prestigious major will consolidate the status of NSU not only as one of the leading universities of the country, but also as a center of professional education in the field of Asian research.
